The Mill
The mill has a working water-wheel which was salvaged along with gears and cogs from Guyzance Mill on the River Coquet. The workings, which are now configured to drive woodworking machinery, can be viewed from the gallery on the mezzanine.
Winter opening hours – Saturdays and Sundays from 10.30am – 2.30pm. Last orders 2pm. Tearoom closing for winter on 17th December until around March 2024
The Mill & Grounds
The mill has a working water-wheel which was salvaged along with gears and cogs from Guyzance Mill on the River Coquet. The workings, which are now configured to drive woodworking machinery, can be viewed from the gallery on the mezzanine.
The site is a haven of peace for you to absorb and explore. You can see some of the features below, and if you want to know more, just click on the link, or better still come along and see for yourself!
History
Local coal and lead from as far away as Alston was transported through Path Head village on its way to the staithes on the Tyne. The mill produced animal feed for the hundreds of horses and ponies that passed every day.
History
Coal was transported by horse-drawn chauldrons running on wooden wagonways which were later replaced by iron. Towneley Main wagonway ran from Barmoor in Ryton, past the mill and down through Stella woods.
History
The Stella Staithes. On the hill in the distance, you can see the summerhouse which still stands at the top of Summerhill. If you leave the mill on foot, turn left into the next field just before you reach the road. That is Image Hill. Walk straight on and you will come to the Summerhouse. It no longer has its domed roof, but the views are tremendous.
History
By 1830, the lead-mines were exhausted, corn prices were too high for a small mill to make a profit, and the railway had arrived at Blaydon, which transformed the way industrial products were transported. The mill ceased production and the farm started to depend on poultry and pigs.
History
When the original farmhouse was knocked down in 1903, the mill building was converted into a weathertight barn for the storage of crops. The wheel and all the mill machinery were lost.
History
By the 1970s, the building was derelict and the village stood on the edge of a huge area of gravel extraction. All seemed lost, but in 1994, Gateshead Council charged the Vale Mill Trust a nominal fee to buy the building and its surrounding land and restore it to its former glory.
